Module I: FIGHTING BACK AGAINST SCAMS AND IDENTITY THEFT - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Module I:

FIGHTING BACK AGAINST SCAMS AND IDENTITY THEFTSlide2

Goals:

Encourage open dialogue around scams that are targeted toward consumers in Georgia;

Present compelling reasons to participants to put a credit freeze on their accounts for all three credit reporting agencies;

Encourage parents and guardians to place a credit freeze on their children’s accounts;

Help participants identify red flags found in phone calls, emails or text messages that indicate unscrupulous practices they should avoid;

Help participants avoid products and services that, while legal, may be predatory in nature;

Present compelling reasons to participants to put a credit freeze on their accounts for all three credit reporting agencies

;Slide3

Goals:

Help

participants identify red flags found in phone calls, emails or text messages that indicate unscrupulous practices they should avoid;

Help participants understand and sign-up for the FTC ‘Do Not Call Registry’;

Encourage participants to utilize the ‘opt-out pre-screen’ option from the three major credit reporting agencies;

Encourage participants to check their credit reports at least twice per year;

And, present compelling reasons to participants for reporting suspected scams and cases of identity theft to the appropriate state and federal agencies

.Slide4

Consumer Finance Concerns in the Georgia Marketplace

Payday Lending

Title Pawn

Prepaid Cards

Binding Arbitration

Debt Collection

Credit Repair

HomebuyersSlide5

Payday Lending

Banned in Georgia in 2004

Initial Loan:

$10,000

What You Really Owe

:

84 monthly payments

X

$743.99

=

$62,495.16Slide6

Title Pawn

State Law Caps:

25% monthly

for

first 3 months

12.5% monthly

after

that

This

means a combined maximum yearly interest rate of 187.5%

Study in 2012 found that only 10% of borrowers had their car repossessed (GA, ID, TX)Slide7

Pay Day & Title Pawn Lending Prevention

Use alternatives:

Look for the lowest interest rate from a bank or credit union.

Consider a loan from family or friends.

Ask your present creditors about reducing your interest rate.

Maintain a bank account with overdraft

protection.

Make

a budget.

If you need help with a budget or see no way to pay your bills, consult a legitimate consumer credit counseling service

.Consumer Credit CounselingClearPoint State Wide: 1-800-750-2227National Foundation for Credit Counseling at www.nfcc.org or the Association of Independent Credit Counseling Agencies at www.aiccca.orgSlide8

Pay Day Lending: Resolution

If the loan was

legally

issued:

Unexpected fees, lender disappears, or other issues may occur.

Submit complaint to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

1-855-411-2372

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

If the loan was

illegal

to begin with:Contact Attorney General Sam Olens: (404) 656-3300Slide9

Prepaid CardsSlide10

Binding Arbitration: Cons

Arbitration costs more than filing a claim in court.

Unlike

a court ruling, a binding arbitration ruling can't be appealed

.

Lack of transparency—everything happens behind closed doors.

Objectivity is questionable.

Many will exclude you from class action suits in the future.Slide11

Binding Arbitration in Georgia

Legal

Employment

Home

Building

Car

Loans & Leases

Service

Contracts (Cell Phone, Cable, Utilities)

Online

Agreements (iTunes, Netflix, PayPal) Credit Cards Retirement Accounts Investment Accounts Checking Accounts

Nursing FacilitiesIllegal

Contracts for the Purchase of Consumer Goods (for example, cars)

Insurance

Contracts

Provisions

Relating to Injuries Resulting from Medical Care (medical malpractice)

Provisions

Relating to Personal Bodily Injury or Wrongful Death Based on Tort

Loan

Agreements in which the Amount of Indebtedness is $25,000 or Less at the Time of ExecutionSlide12

Example: Boost Mobile ContractSlide13

Top Complaints in Georgia (2014 and 2015)

Scam Type

Number - 14

Percent -14

Number - 15

Percent

- 15

%

Change

Debt

Collection13,816

18%65,585

53%+35%Telephone

and Mobile Scams

8,848

11%

15,483

13%

+2%

Imposter Scams

5,172

7%

8,000

6%

-1%

Banks and

Lenders

4,981

6%

5,473

4%

-2%

Auto-Related Complaints

3,217

4%

3,785

4%

0%

Prizes,

Sweepstakes, and Lotteries

2,549

3%

4,608

3%

0%

Television and Electronic Media

2,406

3%2,4202%-1%Shop-at-Home and Catalogue Sales1,6462%2,4602%0%Credit Bureaus, Information Furnishers and Report Users1,3862%2,0802%0%Health Care1,2012%n/an/an/aCredit Cardsn/an/a1,3501%n/aTOTAL89,910n/a123,429n/a+37.3%

Source:

Federal Trade CommissionSlide14

Reported Payouts in Georgia Fraud CasesSlide15

Debt Collection: Case Study

CFPB v Hanna

H

igh

volume of debt collection suits against Georgia consumers who allegedly owed money to credit-card issuers.

A

ttorneys

of this firm typically spend

less than one minute

reviewing each consumer case before filing an action in court.

From 2009 to 2013, Hanna & Associates filed more than 350,000 collection suits against Georgia consumers. During those years, the firm only staffed somewhere between 8 to 16 attorneys, with most of the work done by automated systems and paralegals.In 2009 and 2010, the firm directed one attorney to sign about 138,000 lawsuits, an average of 1,300 collection suits per week. Slide16

Debt Collection: Know Your Rights

The statute

of limitations (time limit) for when credit card debt collectors can attempt to recover credit card

debt in Georgia is 6

years

.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act protects consumers from

harassment:

Repeated

phone calls intended to annoy, abuse, or harass

Obscene or profane languageThreats of violence or harmPublishing lists of people who refuse to pay their debts Calling you without telling you who they areUsing false, deceptive, or misleading practicesReporting: Federal Trade Commission or the Attorney General’s OfficeSlide17

Tax Fraud Prevention

Everyone should file a tax return.

Everyone

.

Know how the IRS will contact you and request payment.

Keep personal documents locked away and shred old documents.

Choose a reliable tax preparer:

AARP Tax Aid Program (all ages; no income limit)

IRS VITA Sites (up to $54,000)

Higher Income/Complex Return: Find a CPA with experienceSlide18

Free & Reliable

Tax Prep Map

www.georgiawatch.org/taxmap

Hours

Locations

Appointment Information

EligibilitySlide19

Report Tax Fraud

File complaint with the IRS

1-800-908-4490

Georgia Department of Revenue

1-877-423-6711

Identity theft involved? Get assistance from the Federal Trade Commission:

1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)Slide20

How Does Credit Repair Work?

Beware if they:

Want you to pay for credit repair services before any services are provided

Do not tell you your legal rights and what you can do yourself – for free

Recommend

that you not contact a consumer reporting company

directly

Suggest

that you try to invent a “new” credit report by applying for an EIN to use instead of your

SSN

Advise

you to dispute all information in your credit report or take any action that seems illegalSlide21

“We Buy Houses”

“So

yall

pay $$ fast? Well so do the neighbors in

Ashview

Heights! Youth get $2 a sign. Youth get paid every Saturday to keep these signs down! Simple and communal solutions. Youth engagement × Youth Employment × Keeping homes in hands

!”Slide22

Pick 4…

Realistically, you can get through 4 out of the 7 topics provided in this section if you are also covering identity theft prevention in your 60 minute presentation.

Choose the 4 that are most present in your community.Slide23

IDENTITY THEFT

Preventing:Slide24

Georgia Identity Theft Complaints (2015)

Identity

Theft Type

Complaints

Percentage

Government Documents or Benefits

Fraud

6,494

43%

Credit Card Fraud

2,51917%Phone or Utilities Fraud2,021

13%Bank Fraud

1,0177%Loan Fraud

703

5%

Employment-related Fraud

305

2%

Other

3,356

22%

Attempted Identity Theft

539

4%

TOTAL

15,230

n/a

Source:

Federal Trade CommissionSlide25

What Do Identity Thieves Want?

Social

Security number

Date

of birth

Address

Telephone

number

Driver’s license

Account

numbers

Credit

cards and numbers

Pins

and passwords

Mother’s

maiden name

Financial records

Email address Slide26

How Do Identity Thieves Get Your info?

Directly

from you

Family

member

“

Dumpster-diver” or your

mailbox

Phishing

and

pre-texting

Bogus Job

Offers

Fake Sweepstakes or

Lotteries

Working In Your

Home

Changing Your Address

Shoulder

surfing

Social Network Websites

File Sharing or Peer-to-Peer Software

Large-scale commercial data breaches

Reading RFID

Medical Identity Theft

Maybe someone you do business withSlide27

Preventing Identity Theft

When you receive a shady call, email or text,

HANG UP AND REPORT

:

Phone:

1 (877) FTC-HELP

(1-877-382-4357)

Online: https://

www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov

Freeze your credit.Limit using personal information online.Use a different, unique, password for every account.Keep personal information safe & secure.Get bank & credit card alerts sent to your phone.Sign up for “Opt-Out-Prescreen” at no charge.www.optoutprescreen.com or by calling 1-888-567-8688

Add yourself to the “Do not call” registry.www.donotcall.gov or 1-888-382-1222 (TTY:

1-866-290-4236)Slide28

Protection

Monitor Your Credit Report

Equifax —

1‑800‑525‑6285

Experian —

1‑888‑397‑3742

TransUnion — 1‑800‑680‑7289

At least TWICE PER YEAR.

ALL THREE AGENCIES.

REPORT ANY ERRORS.

www.annualcreditreport.comSlide29

Credit scores:

Example based on FICO score

These percentages reflect how much each category determines a typical FICO score.Slide30

If Your Identity Has Been Stolen:

Immediate next steps:

Place an initial fraud alerts

Order your credit reports

Create an identity theft report

Equifax —

1‑800‑525‑6285

Experian —

1‑888‑397‑3742

TransUnion — 1‑800‑680‑7289Slide31

Source:

https

://identitytheft.gov/Know-Your-RightsSlide32

How much could you lose?

Source:

https

://identitytheft.gov/Know-Your-RightsSlide33

Your Rights:

create an identity theft report

place

a 90-day initial fraud alert on your credit report

place

a seven-year extended fraud alert on your credit report

get

free copies of your credit report

get

fraudulent information removed (or "blocked") from your credit report

dispute fraudulent or inaccurate information on your credit report stop creditors and debt collectors from reporting fraudulent accounts get copies of documents related to the identity theft stop a debt collector from contacting youSlide34

SCAMS

FIGHTING BACK AGAINSTSlide35

Types of Scams

Something Good:

You’ve won something or are eligible to get a job.

Something Bad:

You will be penalized or fined for not responding or participating.

Something Emotional:

Someone is in need of your help!Slide36

Reporting

CFPB

FTC

Law Enforcement

Office

of Consumer Protection Georgia

Banks/Credit

Unions

Creditors

Involved

Retailers or Companies